Education

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Public Education Investments Act

This bill increases teacher salaries and funding for students in poverty and middle college scholarships.

What This Bill Does

• Increases the minimum base salary for teachers to $50,290 starting from the 1st day of July 2026.
• Raises the weighted allocation for a student experiencing concentrated poverty from 5% to 10%. This affects funding in schools eligible for Title I designation under the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act.
• Increases the amount of a Tennessee middle college scholarship by $60, making it $2,060 per semester starting in the 2026-2027 academic year. The scholarship will increase by 3% each year for nine years.

Who It Names or Affects

• Teachers and students in Tennessee's public schools.
• Students enrolled in middle college programs who receive scholarships.

Terms To Know

TISA

Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act, which provides funding for education based on student needs.

Title I schoolwide designation

A federal program that allows schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families to receive additional funds to improve educational programs.

Limits and Unknowns

• The exact number of teachers currently paid below $50,290 is unknown.
• The impact on local education agencies varies depending on their current salary schedules and teacher step placement.

Official Summary Text

Increases from no less than $50,000 to no less than

$50,290
the base salary for teachers for the
2026-2027 school year and each school year thereafter.

For purposes of the TISA funding allocations, this bill increases from 5 percent to 10 percent the
weighted allocation for a student who experiences concentrated poverty
.

Present law sets the amount of a Tennessee middle college scholarship at
$2,000 for full-time attendance for each semeste
r. This bill increases the scholarship amount to
$2,060 for each semester in the 2026-2027 academic year and increases by
3
percent for each academic year for nine academic years.
As under present law, the scholarship amounts remain subject to funding.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2674
By Akbari

HOUSE BILL 2458
By Pearson
HB2458
011040
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to education funding.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Public Education Investments
Act."
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-306(a)(3), is amended by
deleting subdivision (D) and substituting:
(D) Fifty thousand two hundred ninety dollars ($50,290) for the 2026-2027
school year and each school year thereafter.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-105(b)(2), is amended by
deleting the subdivision and substituting:
(2) The weighted allocation for a student who experiences concentrated poverty
is ten percent (10%);
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-4-909(d), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting:
(d) Subject to the amounts appropriated by the general assembly and any
provision of law relating to a shortfall in funds available for postsecondary financial
assistance from the net proceeds of the state lottery, a Tennessee middle college
scholarship awarded to a student enrolled in middle college for full-time attendance is
two thousand sixty dollars ($2,060) for each semester in the 2026-2027 academic year
and increases by three percent (3%) for each academic year for nine (9) academic
years.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.